The Habitat (Water Fringe) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Habitat (Water Fringe) Regulations 1994 (as amended by S. I. 1996/1480) (“the principal Regulations”) which implement in part a zonal programme approved by the European Commission (“the Commission”) under Article 7 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2078/92 (OJ No. L215, 30.7.92, p. 85) (“the Agri-environment Regulation”) on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside.

These Regulations make provision to implement Commission Regulation (EC) No. 746/96 (OJ No. L102, 25.4.96, p.19) (“the Commission Regulation”) laying down detailed rules for the application of the Agri-environment Regulation, in particular Article 3 (which sets a stocking restriction on conversion of arable land to pasture), Article 10 (which restricts duplication of aid payments), Article 11 (which governs transfers of holdings entered into agreements or undertakings under the Agri-environment Regulation), Article 12 (force majeure), Article 13 (which authorises replacement of an agri-environment scheme undertaking or agreement by another such undertaking or agreement) and Article 20 (which provides for recovery of wrongful payments with interest, a penalty system and exclusion for false declarations).

The Regulations—

(a) expand the categories of eligible land to include long term grass leys in the definition of permanent grassland,

(b) make provision for the Minister to accept replacements for undertakings made pursuant to a scheme approved under the Agri-environment Regulation and to count the period elapsed under that scheme towards the management period for the purposes of the principal Regulations, where the conditions set out in Article 13 of the Commission Regulation are fulfilled (the primary conditions being that the transfer is of unquestionable benefit to the environment and that the existing undertaking is significantly reinforced),

(c) amend the provisions which enable arable land which is set aside under the principal Regulations to count as being set aside for the purposes of Article 7(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1765/92 so as—

(i) to clarify that only arable land subject to the requirements of Schedule 2 can be counted as such, and

(ii) to extend the provisions to any such land accepted pursuant to Article 13 of the Commission Regulation,

(d) specify that entitlement to payment under the principal Regulations is subject to the provisions of Article 10 and Article 20(3) of the Commission Regulation,

(e) make provision to enable the Minister to recover grant and impose penalties in accordance with Articles 11, 12 and 20 of the Commission Regulation,

(f) set a rate of interest where recovery of money is to include interest in accordance with Article 20(1) of the Commission Regulation, and

(g) amend the stocking restrictions in Schedule 5 to comply with Article 3 of the Commission Regulation.

The Regulations form part of a package submitted to the Commission under Article 23 of the Commission Regulation.

No Compliance Cost Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been prepared.